Sydney, June 19 -- Earth's cloud cover is shrinking at a rapid pace, intensifying global warming and contributing to record-breaking temperatures worldwide, an international study involving Australian researchers has revealed.
The study, based on 24 years of satellite data, found that 1.5 to 3 percent of the world's storm cloud zones have shrunk each decade, a trend driven by climate change as shifting winds and expanding tropics push storm systems toward the poles, said a latest news release on the website of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Center of Excellence for 21st Century Weather at Monash University in Melbourne.
With fewer clouds to reflect sunlight back into space, more solar energy is absorbed by the Earth, amplifying t...